Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 by five Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Tesla was founded by Marc Tarpenning, JB Straubel, Ian Wright, Elon Musk, and Martin Eberhard. The five collaborated after they tried to commercialize the T-Zero prototype electric sports car created by AC Propulsion.

When he was in college Elon Musk had said there were two important problems worth studying; one was how to make transportation environment-friendly and the other was how to colonize another planet.

The company was named after electrical engineer Nikola Tesla and aimed to "accelerate the world’s transition to electric mobility with a full range of increasingly affordable electric cars."

The Tesla Roadster prototype was introduced to the public in 2006 and general production began in 2008.

Tesla raised $60 million and spent about $25 million developing its two-seat Roadster vehicle that sells for $109,000. The Roadster goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in four seconds and can go 250 miles on a single charge.

The Roadster came 10 years after General Motors introduced its two-seat electric car, the EV-1, which GM eventually withdrew because it had a 100-mile limit on one charge.

Tesla has maintained that it plans to get to the mass market by selling it to rich people first and kicking off production.

“According to Mr. Eberhard, the way to get a new product into the mass market is to sell it to rich people.

“‘Cellphones, refrigerators, color TV’s, they didn’t start off by making a low-end product for masses,’ he said. ‘They were relatively expensive, for people who could afford it.’ The companies that sold those products at first, he said, did so “not because they were stupid and they thought the real market was at the high end of the market,’ but because that was how to get production started. His company and others that have tried electric cars, he said, are too small to produce by the tens of thousands anyway.”

Tesla was able to secure $465 million in low-interest loans from the government in 2009.

Courtesy Twaro

During the financial crisis the federal government approved a $25 billion auto loan program, that was administered by the Department of Energy. Tesla Motors received $465 million in low-interest federal loans.

$365 million of that money was put towards building the Model S car and the remaining $100 million was used for a powertrain manufacturing plant.

Tesla's loan from the DOE was, however, contingent on Musk holding at least 65 percent of the company. If he were to lower or sell his stake the loan would technically be in default.

That same year, Martin Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and Tesla Motors. It was later resolved.

In a 2009 lawsuit, Martin Eberhard said he was pushed out by Elon Musk, who was brought in as an investor, and sued the company. Contrary to what Musk had said about Eberhard in interviews, the latter said it was Musk causing delays.

"Musk took persistent and distracting interest in random details of marginal importance, such as wasting valuable resources and time on research on installing electronic door latches, rather than conventional door latches. The results were ever increasing delays in the Roadster's production, as well as sky-rocketing expenses."

Musk followed that up with a long retaliation on Tesla's website calling Eberhard a liar.

Then, out of nowhere the two settled their legal woes in September 2009. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

At the time, Musk issued this statement: "Industry-changing efforts are virtually impossible. Without Martin's indispensable efforts, Tesla Motors would not be here today."

Tesla had to recall cars once in 2009 and once in 2010 for safety concerns.

Tesla Motors

In 2009, Tesla had to recall 345 of its Roadsters made between March 2008 and April 22, 2009 over concerns that the rear hub was "under-torqued" and could come loose. This could cause the driver to lose control of the car and cause it to crash.

At the time it was reported that this was a problem with the Lotus assembly line and that Tesla would send technicians to the homes of owners to fix the problem. In 2010, it recalled 439 Roadsters involving the 12V low-voltage auxiliary cable.

It went public on June 29, 2010.

Tesla filed for a $100 million IPO in early 2010 and became the first car company to go public since 1956. The company had priced its IPO at $17 per share but opened at $19 per share, and closed at $23.89 per share.

Tesla also designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicle parts for other companies.

In 2009, Tesla Motors entered into an agreement with automobile manufacturer Daimler for research and development into a battery pack and charger for Daimler's Smart fortwo electric drive. This was followed by another agreement in 2010, for a battery pack and charger "for a pilot fleet of its A-Class electric vehicles to be introduced in Europe during 2011."

In 2010, they announced an agreement with Toyota, to draw on its expertise to develop the Model S and develop an electric powertrain for the Toyota.

In 2012, they received an initial purchase order for the full development of an electric powertrain system for an additional Mercedes vehicle from Daimler.

Tesla's Model S, which was first revealed in 2009, went into production in June 2012.

Tesla expects to produce at least 21,000 Model S cars in 2013.

As of December 31 2011, Tesla had delivered approximately 2,150 Roadsters to customers. The company wrapped up production of the Tesla Roadster gliders in January 2012 and are now just clearing through the inventory.

Tesla expects to produce 21,000 of its Model S cars in 2013. But they expect global demand could exceed 30,000 a year. In time, they expect to increase production capacity as they increase capital spending, add shifts, etc.

The company announced a new financing scheme for Model S cars that guarantees the highest resale value of any luxury sedan brand.

Tesla also announced a new lease-buy financing scheme. The new scheme guarantees the highest resale value of any luxury sedan brand. "Buying a Model S through the Tesla financing offering now comes with a guarantee that the resale value will be higher than that of BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Lexus or Jaguar."

Tesla is getting longer lease terms and estimates that it will now cost $580 a month for personal use. The earlier scheme looked at the Mercedes S class as a benchmark, it also said its $500 monthly payment was based on dubious factors.

The Model S sedan is priced at $60,000.

The Model S was rolled out in June 2012, and the company's 10-K said Tesla planned to deliver 5,000 Model S sedans in 2012.

"Model S acceleration from zero to 60 miles per hour is targeted at 6.5 seconds, 5.9 seconds and 5.6 seconds for the 40 kWh, 60 kWh and 85 kWh battery pack options, respectively.

"We plan to offer Model S with a variety of battery pack options—40 kWh, 60 kWh and 85 kWh—which we estimate will offer a range on a single charge of 160 miles, 230 miles, and 300 miles, respectively, while traveling at a steady speed of 55 miles per hour."

Tesla reported its first-ever quarterly profit in Q1 2013.

Tesla reported earnings of $0.12 per share, beating expectations of $0.03 per share. Sales were up 83% from the last quarter to $562 million. This was Tesla's first profitable quarter.

One of the biggest criticisms leveled against Tesla has been that its margin is dependent on government subsidies. But Elon Musk said Tesla's margin does not assume zero emission vehicle (ZEV) credits.

In February 2012, Tesla sued the BBC for a 2008 review on its show Top Gear and lost.

Tesla argued that a 2008 Top Gear review of the Roadster's range being only 55 miles was defamatory, since Tesla had claimed that its range is about 200 miles.

The libel claim was tossed out and the judge ruled that the malicious falsehood claim would have to be amended. A second attempt to sue was also rejected. "Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that Tesla’s amendment was 'not capable of being defamatory at all, or, if it is, it is not capable of being a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning to constitute a real and substantial tort.'"

Elon Musk, who has frequently publicly lambasted reporters, has gotten into a spat with John Broder of The New York Times.

In a New York Times piece, John Broder wrote that Tesla's battery life wasn't as good as claimed and that it didn't last the length of a trip from D.C. to New York.

Musk went on CNBC and took to Twitter to criticize Broder's review. He tweeted that the piece was "fake." "Vehicle logs tell true story that he didn't actually charge to max and took a long detour."

The New York Times responded, saying,"The Times's February 10 article recounting a reporter's test drive in a Tesla Model S was completely factual, describing the trip in detail exactly as it occurred. Any suggestion that the account was "fake" is, of course, flatly untrue.

"Our reporter followed the instructions he was given in multiple conversations with Tesla personnel. He described the entire drive in the story; there was no unreported detour. And he was never told to plug the car in overnight in cold weather, despite repeated contact with Tesla."

Looking forward, the company expects to use the Model S as a platform to build future electric vehicle models. It plans to begin building Model X in Q4 2013.

"In February 2012, we revealed an early prototype of the Model X crossover as the first vehicle we intend to develop by leveraging the Model S platform. This unique vehicle has been designed to fill the niche between the roominess of a minivan and the style of an SUV, while having high performance features such as a dual motor all-wheel drive system."

Tesla employs over a 1,000 full-time employees and none are represented by labor unions.

As of December 31, 2011, Tesla has 1,417 full-time employees. There are "452 in manufacturing, 315 in powertrain research and development, 276 in sales, marketing and service, 216 in vehicle design and engineering, and 158 in general and administration."

Of these employees 1,088 are located in the Northern California offices, including the Tesla Factory. Eighty-one are in Los Angeles and 48 are in the U.K.

Three of Tesla's employees died in an airplane crash in 2010, in a plane that was owned and piloted by a Tesla employee. The company could be subject to claims arising from the plane crash.

Barclays has picked Tesla as one of its top global picks in 2013.

They think Tesla's most "compelling competitive advantage" is its technological knowhow and that this should be the year that Tesla "transforms from an innovative upstart to a sustainable and profitable operating entity."

In looking toward 2013, steady execution of the company’s production ramp should drive improved operating metrics (margins, cash flow generation) while its investments into a broader distribution network (both in the U.S. and abroad) should begin to bear fruit driving broader awareness of the Model S’ compelling and differentiated value proposition. This, coupled with tangential benefits associated with vehicle ownership (i.e., free use of the company’s nationwide supercharger network) should lead to improved market penetration.

Consumer Reports gave Tesla's Model S a 99 out of 100. This is the highest score of any cars tested. It said the car was "truly remarkable" despite its price and range limitations.

"The Tesla Model S takes everything you know about cars and stands it on its head. It's a very agile, super-quick electric luxury sedan (with a hatchback!) that seats seven and gets the equivalent of 84 mpg. Got your attention yet?"